Portable handheld medical diagnostic devices are often employed to measure concentrations of biologically significant components of bodily fluids, such as, for example, glucose concentration in blood. The portable handheld medical diagnostic devices and their accessories may work together to measure the amount of glucose in blood and be used to monitor blood glucose in one's home, healthcare facility or other location, for example, by persons having diabetes or by a healthcare professional.
For people with diabetes, regular testing of blood glucose level can be an important part of diabetes management. Thus, it is desirable to provide medical diagnostic devices that are portable and easy to use. Various medical diagnostic devices have been introduced for testing blood sugar that are portable. However, there continues to be a need for improved portability and ease of use for medical diagnostic devices.
Often times, self-monitoring of blood glucose may require the patient to first load a lancet into a lancer and a separate test strip into a blood glucose meter. The lancer and lancet are then used to prick the finger and a small drop of blood is squeezed to the surface. The sample port on the strip is brought into contact with the blood and the sample may be transported to the reaction zone on the strip via capillary action. This can be a labor-intensive, uncomfortable process that requires multiple steps and devices. Patients may need to repeat this process several times a day.